Blackpool signing of Owen Dale from Crewe won't become permanent until foot issue is resolved says Ben Mansford

The club planned to seal Dale’s permanent signature from Crewe Alexandra during the recent transfer window only for a foot problem to show up on his medical.

Pool were keen to bring him to Bloomfield Road, agreeing a last-minute loan with a view to it being made permanent in January.

Chief executive Ben Mansford told The Gazette: “It was one of those situations where everybody starts to earn their money with less than an hour left on deadline day.

“We were able to secure an agreement between the two clubs towards the end of deadline day.

“We now do stringent medicals on all players, especially ones that we might invest (owner) Simon Sadler’s money in.

“Unfortunately, very late in the day, some of the scans showed a bit of a problem with his foot.

“At the time we didn’t feel comfortable concluding a permanent transfer, so we had a really positive conversation with Owen, his advisors and his family that were here, and Crewe, who actually had an EFL Trophy game that night which made things even more complicated.

“We made it clear we really like Owen and we weren’t seeking to unravel what we had agreed, but we needed to know a lot more about Owen, his body and his injury.

“We told Crewe that if we were allowed to take Owen on loan, with everything documented for us to have the option to convert it to a permanent, then we’ll go off, understand Owen’s body, get him to a place where he’s fit to play for us and then consider the situation with everyone.

“It was a really mature, professional solution to a very late, challenging situation and I look forward to seeing Owen recover to play for us.

“Then we will work through the current loan with Crewe and Owen’s advisors, and hopefully get the right solution for everybody at the right time.

“Everything is done, everything is concluded, everything is agreed.

“It’s for us to understand Owen’s body and work out if it’s the right thing for Blackpool to do.”

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